Game Based Language Learning for Bilingual Adults

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/conference proceedingArticle in proceedingResearchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

What happens when a single‐player training game enters a classroom context? The use of training activities in game‐based learning (GBL) has often been criticized for letting players perform mechanical operations with no reflection upon the learning experiences involved (e.g. Egenfeldt‐Nielsen, 2005). Building on earlier studies of game‐based teaching (Hanghøj & Brund, 2011; Hanghøj 2013), this paper focuses on the role of the teacher. More specifically, the paper describes the teacher’s opportunity to create reflection among the students as well as the teacher’s ability to connect the students’ game experiences with the central goals in communicative language teaching (CLT). The paper is based on a study of The Danish Simulator when integrated in a game‐based language course with 15 students at a language center in Copenhagen during spring, 2013. The Danish Simulator consists of language drills and simulated dialogues of everyday life and provides the students with feedback on their pronunciation as they play. The empirical data consists of participatory observations of teaching and video recordings of 12 lessons over the course of three days as well as interviews with the students on their experiences with The Danish Simulator in a teaching context. Furthermore, the data include a pilot test and an interview with one student playing The Danish Simulator. The empirical data have been collected and analyzed through an ethnographically inspired approach to discourse analysis. In summary, the analysis presents preliminary findings in relation to students’ different experiences of The Danish Simulator and the teacher’s redesign of the game based teaching. It is concluded that the meaningful use of The Danish Simulator in a game‐based language course for bilingual adults depends on the students’ possibilities of negotiating the meaning of the game in a social context. Likewise, it depends on the teacher’s planning of dialogical activities which contextualize the game as a conversational object in the classroom context.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 8th European Conference on Game-Based Learning - ECGBL 2014. University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin Germany 9-10 October 2014
EditorsCarsten Busch
Number of pages8
Place of PublicationReading
PublisherAcademic Conferences and Publishing International
Publication date2014
Pages191-198
ISBN (Print)978‐1‐910309‐57‐5
Publication statusPublished - 2014
EventThe 8th European Conference on Games Based Learning - Research and Training Center for Culture and Computer Science (FKI), University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin, Wilhelminenhofstrasse 75A, 12459 Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Duration: 9 Oct 201410 Oct 2014
Conference number: 8

Conference

ConferenceThe 8th European Conference on Games Based Learning
Number8
LocationResearch and Training Center for Culture and Computer Science (FKI), University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin, Wilhelminenhofstrasse 75A, 12459 Berlin
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityBerlin
Period09/10/201410/10/2014

Keywords

  • Language learning
  • Game-based learning
  • game-based teaching
  • Game design

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